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Telephone numbers: 416 699-7077 — 1 800 897-8865 (Toll-free)

www.missionsocieties.caSociety for the Propagation of the Faith

2219 Kennedy Road, Toronto, ON M1T 3G5

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The Society for the Propagation of the Faith

VOL 71, NO. 4 Fall 2013Fall 2015VOL 73, NO. 4

World Mission Sunday October 18th 2015

2 MISSIONS TODAY

The focus of this issue of Missions Today is World Mission Sun-day. Churches around the world celebrate as one the universal call to mission service on October 18. To help you prepare for this important event, I offer a condensed version of the Holy Father’s message for World Mission Sunday.

Father Alex Osei C.S.Sp.

The Pope’s Message for World Mission Sunday 2015

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

World Mission Sunday 2015 takes place in the context of the Year of Consecrated Life, which provides a further stimulus for prayer and reflection. For if, every baptized person is called to bear wit-ness to the Lord Jesus by proclaiming the faith received as a gift, this is especially so for each consecrated man and woman. There is a clear connection between consecrated life and mission.

The missionary dimension, which belongs to the very nature of the Church, is also intrinsic to all forms of consecrated life. Those who follow Christ cannot fail to be missionaries, for they know that Jesus “walks with them, speaks to them, and breathes with them.

In Jesus’ command to “go forth”, we see the scenarios and ever-present new challenges of the Church’s evangelizing mission. All her members are called to proclaim the Gospel by their wit-ness of life; the witness of life; in a particular way, consecrated men and women are asked to listen to the voice of the Spirit who calls them to go to the peripheries, to those to whom the Gospel has not yet been proclaimed.

Those who by God’s grace accept the mission are called to live the mission. For them, the proc-lamation of Christ in the many peripheries of the world becomes their way of following him, one that more than repays them for the many difficulties and sacrifices they make. I appeal in particular to young people, who are capable of courageous witness and generous deeds, even when these are countercultural: Do not allow others to rob you of the ideal of a true mission, of following Jesus through the total gift of yourself.

Who are the first to whom the Gospel mes-sage must be proclaimed? The answer, found so often throughout the Gospel, is clear: it is the poor, the little ones and the sick, those who are

often looked down upon or forgotten, those who cannot repay us. Evangelization directed preferentially to the least among us is a sign of the Kingdom that Jesus came to bring: “There is an inseparable bond between our faith and the poor. May we never abandon them” (Evangelii Gaudium, 48). This must be clear above all to those who embrace the consecrated missionary life: by living like them amid the uncertainties of everyday life and renouncing all claims to power, and in this way to become brothers and sisters of the poor. Living as Christian witnesses and as signs of the Father’s love among the poor and underprivileged, consecrated persons are called to promote the presence of the lay faithful in the service of Church’s mission

Consecrated missionaries need to welcome generously those who are willing to work with them, even for a limited period of time, for an experience in the field. The mission of the ser-vants of the Word – bishops, priests, religious and laity – is to allow everyone, without exception, to enter into a personal relationship with Christ. In the full range of the Church’s missionary activity, all the faithful are called to live their baptismal commitment to the fullest, in accordance with the personal situation of each.

To Mary, Mother of the Church and model of missionary out-reach, I entrust all men and women who, in every state of life work to proclaim the Gospel, ad gentes or in their own lands. To all missionaries of the Gospel I willingly impart my Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 24 May 2015 Solemnity of Pentecost

National Director’s MessageMission Today Message Fall 2014

MISSIONS TODAY 3

In This Issue…Vol. 73, No. 4 Fall 2015

Missionary Prayer IntentionsSeptember: That catechists may give witness by living in a way consistent with the faith they proclaim.

OctOber: That with a missionary spirit, the Christian communities of Asia may announce the Gospel to those who are still awaiting it.

NOvember: That pastors of the Church, with profound love for their flocks, may accompany them and enliven their hope.

the National Director’s message ....................... 2

Special report: easter in managrú .................... 3

Across the Globe ................................................. 8

World mission Sunday 2014 report ..................10

mission profile: meet Father Joseph .................13

the Society of Saint peter .................................14

two New Saints of the middle east ....................15

Holy childhood Association ..............................16

mission conversations with the editor .............18

In remembrance ................................................19

Photo: KConnors, morguefile.com

Pontifical Mission societies

Missions Today is published four times a year by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, 2219 Kennedy Road Toronto, Ontario M1T 3G5

International Standard Serial Number ISSN 0843-1515

Design: Marcucci Studios Printed: Timeline Printing Inc. Toronto, ON

Cover photo credit: creationgraphique@opmcanada.ca

Back Cover photo credit: Carlos Pozo/Cancellaría del Ecuador, [CC-SA-BY-2.0], Wikimedia.org

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Subscription Rates: 1 yr. - $8.00, 2 yr. - $15.00(GST included, no tax receipt issued for subscription fees.) Editor: Paul Coady Comments on this issue or other topics are always welcome.

Contact us at: editor@missionsocieties.ca or at Missions Today – The Editor - 2219 Kennedy Road Toronto, Ontario M1T 3G5

Telephone: (416) 699 7077 Toll Free: 1 800 897 8865 Fax: (416) 699 9019 Office E-mail: missions@missionsocieties.ca

Visit our web site at: http://www.missionsocieties.ca

4 MISSIONS TODAY

Easter in Managrú - 2015A special report by: Philip Harrison SJThis report is gratefully reprinted with permission from the original posting at Thinking Faith, the British Jesuit on-line magazine. I encourage our readers to visit their most stimulating site at www.thinkingfaith.org

A team of two Jesuits in formation and two Maronite sisters, representing the countries of Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Britain, travelled to the remote village of Managrú in Colombia to accompany the community in their celebration of Holy Week. A member of that team, Philip Harrison SJ, describes how he spent a Triduum like no other in the pres-ence of a community devastated by poverty yet radiant with Easter joy.

Managrú surprised us from the start, appearing suddenly out of the dense jungle vegetation. The buildings were made of brick, wood, and corrugated iron, neatly arranged around the Catholic Church in the centre of the village. We climbed out of the pickup to be met by a crowd of cheering children streaming out of the church, waving branches of palms because they had just finished celebrating the liturgy of Palm Sunday. Along with the Mexican indigenous rights lawyer Luis Orlando Pérez SJ and two Maronite sisters, one from Colombia and one from Ecuador, I had come to accompany the community of Managrú in their celebration of Holy Week. I wanted to discover what the Passion and Resurrec-tion of Jesus Christ meant for this poor community in an over-looked region of Colombia, to listen to their story and to be near to them in their struggle for dignity.

The department of Chocó lies on the Pacific coast of Colombia in an area of incredible biodiversity and natural beauty. Its main river, the Atrato, flows northwards though the village of Managrú towards the region’s capital, Quibdó, and onwards to the Carib-bean Sea.

With an annual rainfall of more than 13 metres, Chocó is one of the wettest places on earth and the climate is hot, humid, and

Managru

Map: www.mapresources.com

MISSIONS TODAY 5

thunderous. The Afro-Colombian poet Jorge Artel wrote of a region whose ‘hours are deep and remote...constantly flogged by the lashing rain, electrified in dramatic flashes.’[i] Here, indigenous communities live alongside the descendants of slaves from West Africa who worked in the mines and plantations of the settlers. They achieved their liberty in 1851 and settled in this re-mote region of Colombia to maintain their unique cultural identity.

In spite of the rain, clean drinking water is scarce. The region is facing a humanitarian crisis because access to sanitation, health, and education are not guaranteed for the majority of the population. According to government statistics, 68% of households in Chocó experience poverty, more than twice the national average; and 41% of households experience severe poverty, more than four times the national average.[ii] The gov-ernment has insufficient resources to tackle this crisis. In com-munities that are permanently, afflicted by this poverty, such as Managrú, the austerity of Lent means something different: it is a time for the people to rediscover the dignity of generosity, of help-ing a neighbour who needs food, medication, or just someone to share their burdens.

The jungle surrounding the village hides a secret. In the beds of the streams and rivers lies what Jorge Artel describes as ‘a mineral world of incredible treasures.’[iii] The artisanal mining of gold, silver, and other minerals is the main source of income in the area, but it is unreliable: a day of panning for gold might earn the equivalent of three pounds or nothing, depending on your luck. However, this treasure is a double-edged sword because the mining turns the river a muddy brown, and the mercury used to extract the silver from its ore contaminates the water and poisons the fish. Up stream, in the Andean Mountains, natural reservoirs or páramos are being depleted and contaminated by international mining corporations decimating the clean water supply of the vil-lages in the region.[iv]

The richness of the natural resources of this region lures invest-ment, which leads to conflict. Mining companies, communities, and paramilitary organizations compete for land and resources while the government lacks the capacity to administer a just system of allocation and environmental management.[v] In the struggle for land, whole communities are displaced from their territories in search of the basic necessities of life. The desire for the gold, silver, and minerals that are used in the manufacture of your mobile phone drive a world market, which directly impoverishes the lives of the already poor. Without an international system to hold min-

ing companies to account for the abuses of human rights, there is little that can be done to prevent the continual degradation of the environment and damage to communities such as Managrú.

The jungle hides other secrets, too. There are high rates of sexual violence [vi]; and there was not a family in the village that could not name a relative disappeared or killed in the ongoing conflict between paramilitary and government forces. Since the elections of 2014, the opposing sides have begun a process of reconciliation but the scars of years of conflict will be long in healing. Although trust will be difficult to rebuild, peace is becoming a real pros-pect for the people of Colombia. Still, the humanitarian crisis in this part of the world, like so many others, has been forgotten or ignored in the flurry of headlines. I could not help feeling that we had betrayed the people of this region, that the promises of Christianity had not been fulfilled here and that we had not taken responsibility for their plight. The biblical passage that kept sur-facing in my mind came from the Passion of John’s Gospel: Judas eats with the disciples at the Last Supper and then leaves; John simply states that, ‘it was night’ (John 13:30).

This is the context in which the people of Managrú are able to enter fully into the Passion during Holy Week. We spent the first three days in the village working with groups of children, young people, and adults to organize games, activities, and catechesis for the children. With no school that week to keep them occupied, the church was full of the sound of children singing and shouting. Engaging with the older youngsters of the village was more dif-ficult, so we encouraged them to come up with a rap and to take part in the dramatization of the liturgies. In the evenings, there were baptismal classes for the parents of the children who would be baptized that Saturday, and a popular reading of the bible for the adults of the community.

The Atrato River. Photo by Nelemmog, wikimedia.org

6 MISSIONS TODAY

As we entered the Easter Triduum, the priest came from the nearest town to celebrate our only Eucharist of the week with the youngsters taking the role of the disciples at the Washing of the Feet. The community’s liturgical tradition tells the story of the Passion using actions much more than words, so that night the youngsters re-enacted the arrest of Jesus on the football pitch at the edge of the village. Looking at the faces of the crowd in the darkness, I saw that some of the armed police had joined us to watch the events unfold. It was then that I realized that this Easter would be unlike any other I had experienced. The faith of everyone here had been shattered and remolded by their experi-ence of poverty and violence, the emotion of the Passion all the more intense. The youngsters herded Jesus through the streets of Managrú, lit by the torches we borrowed from the armed police, with the villagers joining in the procession or watching from the darkened windows of their houses.

When daylight came, we processed through the streets again, this time to follow the Way of the Cross, laid out at different locations in the village. Again, the youngsters took the parts of Jesus, Mary, the Apostles and the Roman soldiers. Experiencing the Way of the Cross through the eyes of a people who had experienced their own suffering made each station all the more painfully real for me. The teenager who was acting as Christ wanted to carry the heaviest cross he could; ‘I want to make it real,’ he said. When we finally arrived in the church after two hours, it was packed full of people of all ages praying for forgiveness, for their community and the whole Church. As the afternoon drew on, we started to prepare for the Veneration of the Cross, taking down the large wooden crucifix in the church, again with the help of the armed police.

After the Veneration, the figure of Jesus was delicately removed from the cross and placed in a glass coffin for people to pay their respects, then processed around the church. That night, the women of the village waited for everyone to leave before gather-ing around the broken body of Jesus and singing lamentations into the night. The women of this community are strong, like the female disciples in the gospels. They carry the faith of the com-munity and make it their gift to the next generation of Managrú.

MISSIONS TODAY 7

Their song was a cry of anguish at the crucifixion but a cry also for their sons lost or disappeared in the conflict, for the communities displaced from their homelands and for the debilitating effects of poverty.

On Saturday morning, the priest came by motorbike from the town to baptize four children from the village, a sign of hope and great joy. The time for the Easter Vigil then arrived, but not before one final procession of Our Lady of Sorrows in which the women of the community processed around the village with a statue of Our Lady dressed in black, recalling her seven sorrows. In the absence of a priest, we were to celebrate the Easter Vigil with a Eu-charistic service. The majority of the congregation was made up of the children and youngsters who had dramatized the events of the Passion, their faces now illuminated by the Pascal Fire. In this community living with so much adversity, these were the faces of the risen Christ for me.

In Managrú, Easter is the celebration of Christ alive among us or it is not a celebration at all. Here, Christ is alive in the faithfulness of the community’s women and in the joyful faces of the young; in their hope for a better future and the explosion of joy at the news that Christ has risen from the dead.

[i] Jorge Artel, ‘Noche de Chocó’ (2009) in Tambores en la noche, p.86 [Translation by article author].

[ii] DANE, Pobreza Monetaria y Desigualdad 2012, por Depar-tamentos, p.6, p.10.

[iii] Artel, op. cit.

[iv] ABColombia, Giving it Away: The consequences of unsus-tainable mining policy in Colombia (2012), p.7. http://www.ab-colombia.org.uk/downloads/Giving_it_Away_mining_report_ABColombia.pdf

[v] Ibid., p.2.

[vi] ABColombia, Women, Conflict-Related Sexual Violence and the Peace Process (2013), p.7. http://www.abcolombia.org.uk/downloads/ABColombia_Conflict_related_sexual_violence_re-port.pdf

Photos: courtesy of Philip Harrison

Philip Harrison SJ is a Jesuit in formation for the British Prov-ince. He is studying Theology at the Pontificia Universidad Jave-riana in Bogotá, Colombia.

Akha fishing in the traditional way on a river in northern Thailand – Photo by Weltenbummler84, [CC-SA-BY-2.0 Germany], wikimedia.org

8 MISSIONS TODAY

Across the Globe

LAOS – Holy See recognizes two Laos martyrdoms

During a private audience on May 5, Pope Francis advanced the causes of canonization of 12 potential saints, two of whom were martyred by communist revolutionaries in Laos in 1960.

The two martyrs recognized were the Servants of God Mario Borzaga and Paul Thoj Xyooj, who were killed in hatred of the faith in April, 1960.

Born in Italy in 1932, Fr Borzaga joined the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate at the age of 20, and was ordained a priest at 25. In 1957 he was sent as one of the first Italian missionaries to the Oblate mission in Laos, where the Pathet Lao, communist revolutionaries backed by North Vietnam, had begun a civil war four years earlier.

Fr Borzaga spent the first year of his missionary life studying the Lao language. His diary, “To be a Happy Man,” describes the difficulty of the mission, which was aggravated by the Pathet Lao.

After visiting the Christian community in the Hmong village of Kiucatiàm in 1958, where he met with families and cared for the sick. Another group of Hmong from Pha Xoua asked him to visit their own village in 1960.

He set out April 25 on a three day mountain trek for the village, where he was to spend two weeks. He was joined by Paul Thoj Xyooj, a young lay catechist. The two vanished after a day of work-ing with the sick and were never found, despite various searches.

Testimonies gathered since their disappearances confirm that the two were killed by the Pathet Lao.

The Pathet Lao defeated the royalist forces in 1975, and Laos has been a communist state ever since. Foreign missionaries were ex-pelled or fled that year, and now fewer than two percent of Lao-tians are Christian. An edited version, taken from CNA 05/07/2015.

NepAL - the catholic church in Nepal

The first Catholic priest to enter Nepal was the Portuguese Jesuit Father Juan Cabral, in 1628. In 1670 King Pratap Malla invited the Jesuits to settle in the country. In 1703 the Italian Capuchins carried out their work of evangelization in the central and eastern part of Nepal. The conquest of Nepal by the Gorkha, in 1769, ended all Catholic presence in the country. Beginning in the early 1950’s Catholicism slowly began to return. In 1968 the first Nep-alese Jesuit was ordained a priest. In 1973, strict measures are adopted by the authorities to prevent conversions to Christianity, and dozens of Christians were imprisoned without trial. Regime change in the early 1980’s led to a lifting of religious restrictions on Christians in the country.

Throughout the 1980’s, different religious congregations, male and female, opened homes in different parts of the country. According to the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, Nepal has 29.129 mil-lion inhabitants, of whom 8,000 Catholics. There are 11 parishes, 60 mission stations, 1 Bishop, 18 diocesan priests and 58 religious, 13 religious brothers, 165 religious women. The church manages 17 assistant centers and charities, and 22 kindergartens, 28 prima-ry schools and 23 junior and secondary schools. An edited version, taken from Agenzia Fides 04/28/2015.

MISSIONS TODAY 9

cHINA: cardinal tong commends evangelization in china

Hong Kong - Cardinal Tong, Bishop of Hong Kong, expressed his joy over the increasing number of catechumens as well as catechists in his diocese. 3,600 adults received the sacraments of Christian Initiation at the Easter Vigil.

“More Catholics are happily pursuing further education in doc-trine, scripture and theology so that they can participate in the mission of the Church by becoming volunteer catechists,” the car-dinal said.

The prelate pointed that those in Hong Kong are very blessed to be living in a free society. “We have several institutions and com-munications media which can nourish our faith, deepen our faith and from which we can learn methods for spreading the gospel,” he said.

In his message, the cardinal shared two inspiring stories of evange-lization he came across in mainland China. Since the re-opening of China, Cardinal Tong has visited mainland more than 100 times.

The first story was shared by a young priest in the northern part of the country. He was neither a good speaker, nor very good in his studies in the seminary. However, seeing his missionary zeal, the rector approved his priestly ordination; he was sent to the country-side for pastoral service. Realizing his limitations, the young priest depended on his parishioners to spread the Gospel. He divided them into two groups: one group of newly baptised Catholics in-vited their non-Catholic friends and neighbours to join the cat-echumenate at the church, while the others taught Catholic doc-trine to the catechumens.

“While the Catholics were teaching the doctrine, the priest stayed in a small chapel, fervently praying until the catechism classes were finished. As a result, each year he was able to administer baptism to over 1,000 new Catholics!”

The second incident the cardinal cited took place in the north-western part of China and involved a lay person, who undertook a fervent campaign of missionary activity.

“He did not bring any money or food with him. On the one hand, he preached the gospel, and on the other hand, he begged for food. At night he would sleep at the front door of peoples’ houses. His fervour for preaching the gospel moved people, he converted over 1,000 people and introduced them to the Church,” the cardinal recalled.

This is an edited version of a story which appeared in ucanews on-line 04/06/2015. Original Source: Sunday Examiner

eGYpt - Imams and priests promote the “culture of encounter”

Minya - A group of imams linked to al Azhar – the biggest theolog-ical center of Sunni Islam – has joined with Coptic priests to visit schools in the Egyptian province of Minya. They will meet with students and promote a culture of encounter and peace through various conferences and debates. The common theme behind these encounters is peaceful social and religious coexistence. The initiative is supported by the Grand Imam of Al Azhar Ahmad al-Tayyeb and the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II, and aims to strengthen the fabric of national solidarity. In a time of increased sectarianism and fundamentalism that threatens to tear the coun-try apart, it is hoped that youth of both faiths can be mobilized to demonstrate mutual tolerance based on shared values, starting with compassion and solidarity towards fellow citizens in need.

In all there are 40 Imams and priests involved in the project. A similar initiative already took place a few weeks ago in some schools in Cairo. The program aims to gradually involve schools in other areas of the country as well. An edited version, taken from Agenzia Fides 04/22/2015.

INDIA - the Salesians start a center for renewable energy in the Northeast

Guwahati - the Don Bosco Centre for Renewable Energy, within the Don Bosco Technical Institute in Maligaon, in the northeast-ern state of Assam, was inaugurated in recent days in the presence of leaders of the congregation, university professors, civil authori-ties and managers.

The Director of the Institute of Don Bosco in Maligaon, Fr. Ben-ny Alex says: “The center is the first of its kind in northeast India. It will act as a platform for integrated research on development, in-novation, training and support primarily in the field of renewable energy technologies”. “In addition to helping young people from the northeastern region to become entrepreneurs, the center will serve as a reference for large industries. Hopefully, skilled work-force for companies that operate in the field of renewable energy will be created in the next five years”.

The Salesians say that the challenge of renewable energy “can no longer be postponed, it is an urgency for India” in the wake of what the Pope says and what will be deepened in the next encyc-lical, dedicated to ecology. An edited version, taken from Agenzia Fides 06/01/2015.

10 MISSIONS TODAY

GHANAContribution of English Canada U.S. $ 309,531.56

prOJectS

• Construction of 5 churches• Construction of 3 presbyteries• Construction of 2 chapels• Construction of 2 catechist houses• Renovation of 1 convent• Purchase of AV equipment for evangelization

GAMBIAContribution of English Canada U.S. $ 90,171.84

prOJectS

• Renovation of 1 church• Support for annual religious retreats• Construction of hostels for pilgrims to Shrine of Our Lady Queen of Peace• Support for the production of TV and radio programmes aired weekly

NIGERIAContribution of English Canada U.S. $243,663.60

prOJectS

• Reconstruction of burnt presbytery and catechist’s house• Construction of 1 convent• Construction of 3 presbyteries• Renovation of 1 presbytery• Construction of 1 church• Renovation of 2 churches• Construction of 1 chapel

We can help because of your generosity Thank you and may God bless you abundantly

Monthly Giving Plan – Form A - BankFOrm A – bANK

Yes, I hereby authorize the Society for the Propagation of the Faith for Canada, English Sector to draw on my account # on the day of each month for the amount of $ .

NAME:

YOUR OFFICIAL SIGNATURE:

ADDRESS:

CITY: PROVINCE: POSTAL CODE:

A blank cheque marked vOID is attached

Once a year in December we shall send you an official income tax receipt.

GHANA

CCCB PASTORAL FUND Contribution from English Canada – $ 220,335.00The CCCB Pastoral Mission Fund helps mission countries on all continents with grants, primarily in programs for faith development, missionary formation and catechetical training.ALL our World Mission Sunday materials are available on our website. This will make it easier for those who wish to copy directly on to bulletins, etc. The documents can be downloaded in Word format.Our website is at www.missionsocieties.ca Items of missionary interest are available there, including World Mission TV and links to related sites.

Could you follow a MONTHLY GIVING PLAN?An easy way to help the missions is to preauthorize a monthly payment plan for them. To join this plan complete, sign and send us either Form A or Form B. You can change your mind, or the amount to be given, at any time by sending us a note.

How Your World Mission Sunday Collection in English Canada

Was Distributed in 2014.

NIGERIA

MISSIONS TODAY 11

We can help because of your generosity Thank you and may God bless you abundantly

GAMBIA

ZAMBIAContribution of English Canada U.S. $ 613,753.00

prOJectS

• Construction of 5 churches• Renovation of 3 churches• Construction of 3 presbyteries• Renovation of 1 presbytery• Construction of 1 youth centre dormitory• Construction of 2 convents• Renovation of 1 conference house• Construction of 1 pastoral office• Construction of 1 parish hall• Renovation of 1 Bishop’s house• Support for 1 radio project• Support for purchase of AV equipment for evangelization• Purchase of 5 vehicles for pastoral work

CCCB PASTORAL FUND Contribution from English Canada – $ 220,335.00The CCCB Pastoral Mission Fund helps mission countries on all continents with grants, primarily in programs for faith development, missionary formation and catechetical training.ALL our World Mission Sunday materials are available on our website. This will make it easier for those who wish to copy directly on to bulletins, etc. The documents can be downloaded in Word format.Our website is at www.missionsocieties.ca Items of missionary interest are available there, including World Mission TV and links to related sites.

Could you follow a MONTHLY GIVING PLAN?An easy way to help the missions is to preauthorize a monthly payment plan for them. To join this plan complete, sign and send us either Form A or Form B. You can change your mind, or the amount to be given, at any time by sending us a note.

How Your World Mission Sunday Collection in English Canada

Was Distributed in 2014.

Monthly Giving Plan – Form B - Credit CardFOrm b – creDIt cArD

Yes, I authorize the Society for the Propagation of the Faith for Canada, English Sector to receive the following monthly contribution of $ .Starting Date: please charge my credit card VISA or MASTER CARD or AMEX Card No: Expiry Date: Signature: Name: Address:City/Town : Province : Postal Code:

World Mission Sunday collections are sent to the National Office of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, Toronto, ON.

Every year in May National Directors from around the world meet in Rome to approve projects submitted for financial assistance. Specific projects submitted for financial assistance. Specific projects are allocated to specific countries for financial support. The money is sent directly from the National Office to the country of the approved project. The money is not sent to Rome.

ZAMBIA

12 MISSIONS TODAY

WORLD MISSION SUNDAY COLLECTIONDiocese 2014 2013 catholic population

ANTIGONISH $19,123.00 $ 11,748.50 90,000 CALGARY 144,708.81 152,937.74 425,963 CHARLOTTETOWN 13,805.35 19,696.25 66,081 CHURCHILL-HUDSON BAY 10,600.00* 880.82 8,900 CORNER BROOK 6,398.90 6,375.33 32,456 EDMONTON 100,000.00 112,786.22 383,545 GRAND FALLS 7,378.00 7,951.31 35,850 GROUARD-MCLENNAN 7,909.20 19,516.06 47,899 HALIFAX 20,000.00 20,378.86 193,125 HAMILTON 90,000.00 90,000.00 620,518 KAMLOOPS 17,997.79 18,451.96 51,435 KEEWATIN-LE PAS 3,586.60 4,082.25 47,458 KINGSTON 40,244.60 41,155.75 116,500 LONDON 58,195.44 73,358.57 444,310 MACKENZIE-FORT SMITH 1,927.05 3,441.85 27,050 MILITARY ORDINARIATE 2,857.99 2,997.20 81,000 MOOSONEE 340.05 443.62 5,950 NELSON 27,082.87 29,301.31 78,000 OTTAWA 52,354.11 60,299.07 394,515 PEMBROKE 14,371.25 13,433.11 59,600 PETERBOROUGH 19,553.74 17,241.44 57,340 PRINCE ALBERT 18,787.69 953.17 39,012 PRINCE GEORGE 16,041.96* 786.70 52,100 REGINA 111,761.45 19,731.87 120,000 SAINT JOHN (NB) 29,672.89 23,717.01 280,000 SASKATOON 52,489.80 29,874.54 93,500 SAULT STE MARIE(English Sector) 18,333.63* 28,256.97 170,000 ST CATHARINES 28,357.08 29,237.47 166,987 SAINT JOHN’S NL 19,268.75 13,697.86 111,000 THUNDER BAY 10,000.00 8,710.13 73,780 TORONTO 461,483.64 565,572.19 2,061,784 VANCOUVER 170,358.73 172,878.56 448,786 VICTORIA 17,167.21 15,991.50 95,920 WHITEHORSE 2,458.00 3,520.20 7,720 WINNIPEG 34,082.06 47,299.54 158,095UKRAINIAN EPARCHY 1,000.00UKRAINIAN EPARCHY-SASK 70.00UKRAINIAN ARCHEPARCH-WNG 245.00 UKRAINIAN EPARCHY-NM 215.00CHALDEAN EPARCHY-ST ASSAI GTA 2,805.00

Total $1,655,842.64 $1,669,208.11 7,146.179INDIVIDUALS $2,810.00 $2,503.18 August 31, 2015 Note: In some Dioceses, total collection includes monies for World Mission Sunday received in our offices directly from parishes.

Thank you, Canada! From Propagation of the Faith

MISSIONS TODAY 13

1 - City of Kano2 - City of Jos3 - Fadun Kagoma - Father Joseph’s home town4 - City of Abuta, capital of Nigeria5 - City of Kaduua

One of the wonderful perks of working on Missions Today is the opportunities that present themselves for me to meet with missionaries and diocesan religious from around the world. Our office often receives visitors who are visiting our coun-try or coming here to work and study. One such encounter occurred in May when Father Joseph Patrick Salihu stopped by to meet with Father Alex. I sat down with Father Joseph afterwards for an informal conversation about his life as a diocesan priest and formator in Nigeria.

Until recently, Fa-ther Joseph served as the Rector of Good Shepherd Provincial Major Seminary in the Archdiocese of Ka-duna. He is a priest of the Diocese of Kano located in northwestern Ni-geria. He has been an ordained priest for twenty years with most of his time split between pastoral work and education. He

served as a diocesan priest based at Our Lady of Fatima Cathedral in Kano, one of the largest and busiest parishes in the country.

When asked why he wanted to become a priest, Father Joseph re-counted to me the major impact that first his father, the Society of African Missions (S.M.A.) Fathers, who evangelised his area and then the Augustinian Fathers, who taught him had on his spiri-tual development. As a young boy, he considered being a doctor, a lawyer, and even a military officer, but all the time he felt a deeper calling to the religious life. His father was a very spiritual person, and Father Joseph remembers fasting along with his father during penitential periods in the church liturgical calendar, and making the twenty minute walk to church to serve at daily mass. To be on time required that he leave his house at 5:00 a.m. He remembers coming home after mass and role playing the priest during the celebration of the Eucharist. His teachers provided further inspira-tion for him, witnessed by their spiritual devotion and dedication to their missionary calling.

After attending St. Joseph’s Minor Seminary, Zaria, Father Joseph completed eight years of training at St. Augustine Major Semi-

nary in the city of Jos. His great love is teaching and he recalls his years at St. Thomas Secondary School, Kano with great fondness. His spiritual journey turned full circle when he was appointed the Rector of Good Shepherd Major Seminary in 2010. The of-ficial announcement of his appointment outlines Father Joseph’s extensive educational background: “Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect for the Congregation of the Evangelization of Peoples, on 13 April 2010, nominated as Rector of the inter-diocesan “Good Shepherd Major Seminary” in Kaduna (Nigeria), Father Joseph Patrick Salihu, a di-ocesan priest in Kano. The new Rector was born on 17 June 1970 in the state of Kaduna. He attended St Joseph Minor Seminary in Zaria, the Media Service Centre in Kaduna, St Augustine Major Seminary in Jos, then Trinity College in Dublin, the Lumko Institute in South Africa and the Federal College of Education in Kano. He received a postgraduate diploma in Education, a Doctorate in Philosophy, a Diploma in Catechesis and one in Mass communication. Among his various roles: he was visiting professor at the “Good Shepherd Major Seminary”, diocesan director for education, parish priest, administra-tor of the Cathedral of Kano. (Agenzia Fides 01/17/2011)”

During his time as rector, Father Joseph oversaw the seminary’s major construction project. He told me that even with the many responsibilities a Rector holds, he still found time to teach. After his term as rector was complete, Father Alex arranged for Father Joseph to come to Canada. He will be taking up pastoral duties at Holy Trinity Parish, Spruce Grove, in the Archdiocese of Edmon-ton in June. Missions Today welcomes Father Joseph to Canada. Please keep him in your prayers.

Father Joseph Patrick Salihu

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14 MISSIONS TODAY

Society of Saint Peter the Apostle“Exodus: the heart of vocation”

To offer one’s life in mis-sion is possible only if we are able to leave ourselves behind. On this 52nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations, I would like reflect on that particular “exodus” which is the heart of vocation, or better yet, of our response to the vocation God gives us.

Belief means transcending ourselves, leaving behind our comfort and the inflex-ibility of our ego in order to centre our life in Jesus Christ. It means leaving, like Abraham, our native place and going forward with trust, knowing that

God will show us the way to a new land. This “going forward” is not to be viewed as a sign of contempt for one’s life, one’s feel-ings, (and) one’s own humanity. On the contrary, those who set out to follow Christ find life in abundance by putting them-selves completely at the service of God and his kingdom. Jesus says: “Everyone who has left home or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life” (Mt 19:29). All of this is profoundly rooted in love. - Pope Francis

The exodus experience is paradigmatic of the Christian life, particularly Pope Francis chose “Exodus, a fundamental experi-ence of Vocation” as the theme for World day of Prayer for Voca-tions. The Exodus experience is paradigmatic of the Christian life especially in the case of those who have embraced a vocation of special dedication to the Good News. “This call for a con-stantly renewed attitude of the conversion and transformation, an incessant moving forward, a passage from death to life like that celebrated in every liturgy, an experience of Passover,” Pope Francis added. Right from the call of Abraham to that of Mo-ses, from Israel’s pilgrim journey through the desert to the con-version preached by the prophets, up to the missionary journey of Jesus which culminates in his death and resurrec-tion, Vocation is always a work of God. This work of God also needs the hands to nurture it to grow and bear fruits that will last.

Our traditional missionary countries of the southern

hemisphere operate an economy that has its people living on one to three dollars a day. Finances are required so that children can attend the most basic of education and many times parents do not have access to the finances required. So when we address the issue of educating the local people we are talking about a required investment of finances. Educating people beyond sec-ondary school level requires access to finances that in most poor countries, the ordinary person could not even dream of. So in order to secure the presence of a local indigenous church in these countries we have to financially provide for the education of our young priests, sisters and brothers.

This is the purpose of the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle. Funds are collected from churches, Indi-viduals, Religious C on g reg a t ion s that are directed specifically to the education of men and women who will be the future Sisters, Brothers and Priests of the local indigenous church and missionaries for the univer-sal mission churches. Consider these statistics which are taken from the Vatican Statistical Yearbook, Dec. 2013

• Between 2005 and 2013, the number of Catholics in-creased by over 12%, from 1.115 billion to 1.254 billion, at a rate that outstripped world population growth.

• 17.7% of the world’s people are now Catholic-- up from 17.3% in 2005.

• Much of the growth took place in Africa, whose Catholic population soared by 34% over the eight-year period and now stands at 206 million.

• The number of priests has increased 0.3% since 2012, 2.2% since 2005, and 2.5% since 2000.

• Between 2005 and 2013, the number of priests rose 29.2% in Africa and 22.8% in Asia.

• The number of professed women religious has increased by 18% in Africa and 10% in Asia.

• The number of major seminarians worldwide rose from 63,882 in 1978 to 120,616 in 2011—an increase of 88.8% in the 33 years after the beginning of St. John Paul II’s pontificate.

All clip art images courtesy: Hermano Leon, cruzblanca.org

MISSIONS TODAY 15

Vatican City –Sister Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas, found-er of the Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of Jerusalem, and the discalced Carmelite Maryam Baouardy (Mary of Jesus Cruci-fied) will be canonized by Pope Francis this coming Sunday (May 17) in St. Peter’s Square.

The solemn celebration will be attended a delegation of 2124 people from the Palestine territories and Jordan headed by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal. The Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will also be present, along with nu-merous prelates from Lebanon, Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Cyprus.

“Patriarch Fouad Twal affirmed that ‘the declaration of the sainthood of the two nuns from Palestine is a spiritual event of prime importance for the citizens of the Holy Land, amid the difficulties we are experiencing, as the two saints enlighten our path’”, said Fr. Badir, , director of the Catholic Centre for Stud-ies and Media in Amman, Jordan, “As the Holy Land, wrecked by violence and dissent, has for some time had a tarnished im-age, our two saints emerge to restore its sanctity, reminding us that sanctity is possible even in the most difficult circumstanc-es. The canonization of the two girls from the East during these dark times is an invitation from His Holiness Pope Fran-cis to pray, knowing that only prayer can miraculously help save our faith in the midst of these times of trial. Now we have two new saints who represent a model of perfection for Chris-tians, as well as for Muslims and Jews alike. They are both

named Mary, and this name is widespread and commonly used among all three traditions. It is a sign of our mod-ern time which suggests that we can talk about the three religions without any dis-crimination”.

This grand event”, added Fr. Badir, “is a message of solidarity and en-couragement to the Christians of the Holy Land, es-

pecially for those in all other Mid-dle East countries, to those who have been forcibly dis-placed and de-ported from their home countries, and to all those who suffer perse-cution, and whose persecutors some-times think that by killing they are offering a sacrifice to God, as Jesus Himself warned”.

The new saint Mary of Jesus Crucified was “subjected to acts of extremism and an attempt on her life, seeking to force her to change her religion. She now intercedes for those who are being killed because of their religion and their religious affilia-tion. Her life and intercession are a cry urging respect for reli-gious and ethnic differences as well as acknowledging human beings as creatures who are made in the image and likeness of God”.

St. Marie-Alphonsine “succeeded in gaining the support of the religious authorities to set up the first Arab religious congrega-tion, and placing the Arab world on the map in the fields of education and religious teaching”.

“Furthermore, the rosary schools associated with this Arab religious congregation have a prominent and influential pres-ence in Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, the Gulf states, and Rome. We realize that during the late 19th and early 20th century this religious congregation contributed to increasing the Arab role in culture, social awareness, spiritual guidance, and edu-cation of generations of men and women. Illiteracy has been eliminated in many parts of the Middle East as a direct result of the active contribution of nuns and religious congregations to literacy education”.

Source: www.news.va o5/15/2015

Two new Palestinian Saints: a sign of hope for the men and women of the middle east

Saint Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas – Photo: catholicsaints.info

Saint Maryam Baouardy – wikimedia.org

16 MISSIONS TODAY

Holy Childhood AssociationCelebrating Holy Childhood Day in British Columbia – May 2015

Archbishop Miller (centre) with Father Donnelly (left) and Father McAlister (right)Archbishop Miller in discussion with his favourite audience, the children of the diocese.

“We remember those who need our love and support.”

Each year, on the first Wednesday in May, schools and parishes across the country celebrate Holy Childhood Day. May, being the month of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the perfect time to give thanks for all we have and to pray in union with children all around the world who need our help. One of the biggest celebra-tions happens in Vancouver, British Columbia under the guidance of the Holy Childhood Co-ordinator, Sister Mary Ellen Burns CSJ, and her most capable assistant, Ms Doreen Dominquez. To-gether they organized the celebration held this year in St. Jude’s Parish, Vancouver. This year 21 schools were represented. The lit-urgy was celebrated by Archbishop Miller with co-celebrants, Fa-ther Bruce McAlister, the region’s mission director and chancellor and Father Lawrence Donnelly, the parish priest. The church was filled with children, music, flowers and happiness. Congratula-tions to all who played a part in this celebration. Special thanks to Mrs. Yu, grade one teacher at St. Patrick Catholic School in Maple Ridge for providing us with these photographs.

We Sing a Prayer of Thank You

“We gather in celebration, thankfulness, and humility.”

MISSIONS TODAY 17

“Sharing appreciation after the mass”

“Hello to all our Holy Childhood friends across Canada”

Mother Black Lemur with her baby. Photo by: Fox-Talbot, Wikimedia.org

“We sing in praise of our Lord”

Thank You so much for all your hard work Sister Mary Ellen (L) and Doreen Dominquez (R)

Photo by: Fr. Luigi Filippini

Introducing our new Project Country: Madagascar!Attention all Holy Childhood supporters. Our focus country for 2016 will be Mada-gascar. In the next issue we will bring you stories of the children of this island country and ways we can help make their lives bet-ter. Can you find Madagascar on a map?

In the meantime, meet our friend, the Black Lemur:

The lemur is only found in the wild in Madagascar. As of 2012, there were 103 living species of lemur in Madagascar, in-cluding sub-species. The majority of these are classified as rare or endangered. Several species of lemur such as the giant lemur have become extinct in the past, mainly due to extensive deforestation. Source: sci-encekids.co.nz

18 MISSIONS TODAY

In early July, Pope Francis vis-ited three South American countries where he was en-thusiastically greeted by huge crowds everywhere he went. It is obvious that this Pontiff’s consistent message of hope, humility and humour has reg-istered with people around the world, nowhere more so than in

the continent of his birth.

Part of Francis’s great appeal is his insistence on the church being present in the lives of the ordinary and the marginalized. Thus, it was no surprise that at each stop on this tour, he met with those whom he describes as “witnesses” to the faith. These people are not the ‘movers and shakers’ of the political, or economic or even social world. Rather, they are people who we would more than likely pass by in the street, with hardly a second glance or thought. But Francis sees things differently.

One of the witnesses he met is a woman named Imelda Ca-icedo Vega. She is a member of the Montubio people, one of the indigenous tribes in Ecua-dor. Along with many others, she had gone to the church of San Francisco in Quito, the capital of Ecuador to celebrate the Pope’s visit. During her personal visit with Francis, Imelda revealed herself to be quite a remarkable person.

Imelda is 85 years old. She has been a catechist for 60 years, work-ing in her home province of Los Rios and clearly she is a witness to the faith. “Pope Francis, the Montubio people want to answer the call for a new evangelization, in order to become a Church that goes out. From our experience of working in the countryside, in contact with nature, contemplating the beauty of creation, guided by the words of our Pastors and supported by the sacraments of the Church, we also want to be missionaries!” Something tells me this person has seized the message of Francis on many levels. I cannot say for sure that Imelda has taken the time to read Francis’s en-cyclical, Laudato Si,* but her statement suggests that like Francis, she has beautifully combined what should be our mission: live the faith aligned with an appreciation and respect for the natural world in service of others.

Imelda went on to say, “We want to take an active part in the life of the Church and society. We believe that a good Christian must be a leader of great change, because social changes will become reality if we all assume our responsibilities and are guided by the criteria of Christ. Only then we will know how to deal with those who want to manipulate and use the poor to carry out projects and perverse ideologies that go against life and the family that destroy man and his dignity.”

What especially impresses me is Imelda’s dynamism. Eight-five? What’s a number? She clearly is not ready to ‘retire’ to a com-fortable pew somewhere inconspicuous in her local church. She has made a public statement of faith that acts as a stimulus and a challenge for the rest of us. There’s work to be done, people, and Imelda isn’t waiting around for the rest of us to get involved. This properly proud woman, proud of her people, proud of her faith, proud of knowing the natural world around her is too busy living

the faith to waste time in worry and despair. Social change that is change for the better will only happen when people rooted in faith get involved in that change. In some ways, Imelda seems happily subversive in her ap-proach to life. She is very aware of the evils around her.

“We open the doors of our homes to allow the light of Christ to enter and illumi-nate our family situation, often marked by violence, poverty, sexism, lack of resources for edu-

cation, labor exploitation and little knowledge of faith. For many years, when we had no priests, the Catholic faith remained in our villages, thanks to the devotion to the Virgin Mary, which is why we say she is the great missionary of the Montubio people”.

Take a moment and re-read that statement. While we moan on about the shortage of priests in our lives and the threats of parish closures forced by this reality, Imelda was busy getting on with keeping the faith alive among her people. Let’s join her.

If you would like to read Pope Francis’s full encyclical, Laudato Si, go to: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html

If you would like to hear Imelda deliver her comments to Pope Francis, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4q79hYmxLE

Keep in mind, this is in Spanish. Get someone to translate for you!

Mission Conversations with the Editor“…a good Christian must be a leader of great change.”

Imelda Caicedo Vega with Pope Francis in the church of San Francisco. Photo: Cancellaría del Ecuador, [CC-Sa-BY-2.0], Wikimedia.org

MISSIONS TODAY 19

Enoil Ouellette – Saint John, NB

Joseph Padelt – Chatham, ON

Domenico Pallari – Thunder Bay, ON

Lillian Sinnott – St. John’s, NL

Mr. & Mrs. Robert Skirrow – St. Catherine’s, ON

Joseph Teves – Kitimat, BC

Mary Toplack – Dundas, ON

Jane Underhill, Blackville, NB

Harry Vis – Mississauga, ON

Gerhard Waliczek – Brampton, ON

Herle Wendelin - Regina, SK

Anne Aucoin – Medicine Hat, AB

Rose Ball – Indian Head, SK

Lucille Beck – Regina, SK

Graham Bellamy – Guelph, ON

Dorothy Berard – Brandon, MB

Wendy Britto – Niagara Falls, ON

Blanche Cool – Portage la Prairie, MB

M. Davidson – Langley, BC

Ronald Dulhanty – Calgary, AB

Aline Duval – Winnipeg, MB

Myrtle Fletcher – Victoria, BC

John Foss – Edmonton, AB

Florian Gartner – Edmonton, AB

Celia Hartley – Toronto, ON

Lorna Labarge – Burlington, ON

Betty Merhar – Elliot Lake, ON

Eugene Mooney – Amherst, NS

Vera Moore – St. Catherine’s, ON

In Remembrance Our Deceased Donors

Please remember in your prayers the recently deceased members of the Pontifical Mission Societies:

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“Holy Father, you can count on the closeness and prayers of our people.”

Imelda Caicedo Vega

“Holy Father, you can count on the closeness and prayers of our people.”

Imelda Caicedo Vega

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